Submergible and towable supply-base.



w. w.Y POTTER. SYUBMERGIBLE AND TOWABLE SUPPLY BASE. APPLICATION FILEDOCT. 7.*19l5.- 1,301,738. Patented Apr. 22,1919.

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W. W. POTTER. SUBMERGIBLE AND TOWABLE SUPPLY BASE.

y APPLICATION min ocr. 1. 1915.

Patented Apr. 22, 1919.

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Y' ',f" @@@fp E www WILLIAM lW'OODBURN" POTTER, 0F PHILADELPHIA,PENNSYLVANIA.

SUBMEEGIBLE AND TOWABLE SUPPLY-MSE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 22, 1919.

Application led October 7, 1915. Serial No. 54,515.

delphia and State of Pennsylvania, have inl vented certain new anduseful Improvements in Submergible and Towable Supply-Bases, of whi-chthe following is a. specification.

My invention relates to tows' including especially submergible barges ofaf novel type controllable electrically from a towing submarine/ Whilemeans heretofore have been devised for towing under water, such meanswere used for a very limited purpose and would be impractical for the.purposes of my inven-tion. By the novel means hereinafter set forth, Isuccessfully solve the problem-of controlling under watera vessel fromanother vessel. y

While my invention is not limited to any specific means of. control, Iprefer to use any of the well known electrical devices for controllingthe-tow under water in combination with my tow line and electric cable.

It is apparent that the difficulties of towing under waiter are muchgreater than surface towing. Not only are submerged vessels exceedinglytender but they are also blinded and there are-no means of communicationone tothe other in a visual way.

In order then, to make towing under water practicable, means must beprovided on the towing vessel for'wprevent-ing the tow from disturbingthe stability of the towing vessel, and means must be provided forcontrolling the actions of the tow from the pilot or towing vessel,certainly a. more complicated and a more diflicult problem thancontrolling a vessel towed on the surface. It is a problem 'heretoforenot solved. Means must also be provided on the pilot for indicating theposition of the tow. y

4These mechanical means of indicating the position of the tow areessential in order that the means of control may be intelligentlyutilize Heretofore, little or no advance has, been made in the art ofunder -water towing.

#Control has been so imperfect that such under water towing has beenlimited to comparatively small objects, such as torpedoes. Even in thesecases it has been found ne:- essary to either keep the towing vessel onthe surface or else to provide rigid connec- WILIAM VVooDBURN tionbetween the submerged vessel and its tow with very limited action.Floats, rods or other means of visually indicating on the surface theposition of the under water tow were the only means provided heretoforeand the inability to see under water was heretofore a stumbling block tosuccessful under water towing.

My -invention broadens the field of under Water towing and I havedevised means of overcoming the difficulties by minimizing the influenceof the tow on the stability and on the buoyancy of the towing vessel.

I provide means of controlling the tow at will, both laterally andvertically from the pilot. I particularly provide means of controllingat will the buoyancy of the towed vessel. By electrically connectedtell-tales on the pilot- I indicate the position and actions of the tow.

Moreover, I have devised a new type of vessel, combining certainfeatures of the tank steamer with features heretofore limited to thesubmarine. I term this novel type under-water supply barge or mobilesubmergible base.

' This mobile base the ordinary tank steamer or over a moored su-pplybase in the fact that it can be controlled at will as regards to itssubmergence from the pilot. It has an advantage over the submarine inthat it is more simple and therefore is cheaper and quicker ofconstruction. It need have no engines or accommodations for a crewandits appointments can be limited to the actual means, electricallyconnected to the towing vessel, for controlling, course, submergence,trim and indicating devices, mooring devices, etc. It has the combinedadvantages of being adapted for has the advantage over under watertowing and for mooring.` The.

transference of stores under water can be effected. Owing toitscomparative cheapness it can be abandoned when empty without great loss.

B-y means of my invention any number of submergible supply bases can bedeposit- 'ed at any part of the `globe and used as de- I am able bymeans of my invention to carry on the submergible barge explosivesubmerged mines, which can be dropped or planted at the will ofthecaptain of the submarine.

`Submarines of the present existing types can towthe submergible barge,very little eXtra space or alteration being'required to properly handlemy invention.

By means of my "invention important stores necessary for extendedoperations of submarines can be carried on the submergible barge@ Oilvand other fluids can be piped togthe various tanks or compartments. I amenabled to control the submergible barge by installing novel means fortowin and steering the tow from thetowing vesse and above all bycontrolling from the towing vessel the'buoyancy and the stability 'ofthe tow.

I overcome any tenderness of the subma-l 'rine while submerged byproviding means to insure steadiness of both the strain and thedirection of the pull of the towing cable, as well as means of attachingthe towing cableto a point at or near the center of -resistance of thesubmarine.

To control the horizontal and vertical rudders any ofthewell known meansmay be employed, though electrical are preferred. Similarly any of thewell known means for 'pumping out orflooding the barge, or any of itsindividual compartments may beutilized, such as a Kingston sea valvellnotor and electric pump, to control the buoyancy or to lill orempty thedivers compartments.

Means are provided b v the use of the divers compartments to transferunder water the stores from the barge to the sub marine.

Means are provided for operating dlvmg ltins or rudders to cause thebarge to dive,

controllable from the submarine, in addition to or in combination withthe submerging or ballast tanks.

A crew of one or more persons can remain on board the barge submerged orotherwise, whether it is being towed or anchored independent Aof thesubmarine. It is Vnot necessary, however, fora crew to be main'- tainedon the barge in order to control its actions from the submarine or otheroutside sources.

The barge can also be raised or submerged, or otherwlse controlled fromother thanV a towingv vessel When such other unit is equipped with themeans described in my invention. -M

Otherfeatures areset forth in the detailed description:

Figure 1, is a plan showing a submarine towing a submergible barge, withthe general arrangement of securing the one to the other.

Fig. 2, is a side elevation of a submarine towing a submergible bargewith the general arrangement yof securing the one to the other.

Fig. 3 is a side View of the submergible barge at anchor submerged foruse as a concealed base of supply.

Fig. 4 is a sectional longitudinal view of the submergible barge showingthe connections with the tow.

Fig. 5 is a'plan of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a plan-of the stern of the submarine showing in detail theconnection.

Fig. 7 is a side View of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 shows in detail the switch board control on the sub-marine.

Fig. 9 is a side elevation of a sub-marine towing mines while submerged.

Fig. 10 is .a plan showing aA submarine towing while submerged a bargesecuredy various electrical circuits leading t0 the various switches onthe switchboard con trol.

Figs. l and :2 show a submarine 2 towing the barge l with the towingcable 4. To enable the barge to be towed under water as well as on thesurface of the water means are provided as hereinafter described so asto neutralize the effect which the towing strain would otherwise have onthe. towing vessel, as well as means for minimizing the veering of thetowed vessel.

At 01 near the bow of the submergible barge or towed vessel I isattached the four part bridle 25 to the sides and top and bottom of thebarge at, points 7 removed somewhat aft of the extreme bow. The bridleis used and attached at points 7 in order to facilitate steering the towand enable the towing line to prevent veering and keep the tow ontitscourse. Each line of the bridle .25 is provided with springs 48 tolessen any vsudden shock. The four strands of the bridle then ext/endforward to the ring l2,

Figs. 4 and 5, where it Qis attached to the the bridle could be made.fast direct to the sides of the submarine. At 45 I show 'guards moinesfor protecting the propellers from being fouled by the bridle orconduit.

At the outer end of the .arms is a pulley 49, Fig. 6. through which thelines of the bridle pass. The bridle lines are placed on the sides ofthe-hull so that in towing the vstability and' course'of the submarinewill 'be least interfered with. The best point ot fastening the lines ofthe bridle `or the location of the arms 6 would be at or near the centerof resistance. This center of `resistance is defined asthat point in themid-ship crossA section through which .passes the retioii throu h thewater when the submarine is subrner d at normal submerged trim., It isjafixed point somewhere between thecen .terof gravity and the center ofligure of.

the inidship section of the submarine.. .Its exact position isdetermined by the position of the center of gravity, by the symmetry ofthe form of the cross section and by the skin resistance of the wettedsurface. The position of the centerof resist-ance could be foundexperimentally in a' model basin by towing under water, attaching 'thetow-line at'various points on the hull of the mid-ship cross section,That-point of attachment of.

the tow-line, where the steering, when'tow-f ing, is easiest, isopposite the center of ref sistance. It is well known that submarineswhen submerged are tender owing to the small metacentric height. lf lthe towing cable were attached directly to the stern, anyr strain notvin al direct line withtlie course of the vessel would .tend to disturb,and make more difiicult of control, the stability ,and the handling ofthe submarine. It is most important to overcome this towing diiiculty. Ido so by bringing the towing strain at or near to the center ofresistance; .The nearer the strain is brought to the center ofresistance t-he'less the effect will #be on .the stability of trim ofthe submarineg Since the stability of the vessel depends uponthemetacentric height, this metacentric height may be changed asrequired to facilitate'the towing of a vessel. By means of fastening thetow line to the best possible point on the towing; vessel and a tow linepeculiarly adapted to the purpose, I solve the problem of underwatertowing. y

In Figs. 1 and 2, I illustrate by the position of `the tow shown in thedotted lines 'how my invention would overcome the tendency which thetowing strain would 'exert to disturb the stability of the towingvessel. Fig. l shows the relation which the towing vessel 60 bears tothe tow when out. of horizontal alinement, and Fig; 2 the relation ofthe two vessels when out of vert-ical alinement. taken at or near themetacenter the tendency to disturb the stability or equilibrium isreduced to a minimum.

Since the strain of the towline is The lines of the bridle 3 can belengthened or shortened byfleading them after passing through thepulleys 49 through hawse holes 50 to a capstan 2l., s

Having explained tliefinethod of arrangmy ing the towing cable for underwater towing',

]practical to tow under water on account of not being able to exerciseproper controlv over the towed vesseL By my invention this diliculty, aswell as the diiliculty owing to the influence which the towed vesselexerts on the stability of the tow is overcome.

The preferred form of control is electrical, exercised by means ofelectric wires running in conduits 5, from the barge 1 to submarine 2.These electric conduits start from the switchboardV 22 and) continuethrough hull of the submarine permanently installed up to fixedcouplings 51 where the rigid installation ends. To this coupling arejoined the flexible electric conduits from the interior 'of thesubmarine to those leading outside., At this place is provided'anautomatic winding drum 71 around which are wound the conduits for payingout'or 'hauling in. This conduit continues through ya hawse holer 18 tothe barge, secured in any suitable way to the towing cable 4l andcontinues, fastened at intervals, to the end of cable at 12 and thenceentering the bow at 35 or other point of the barge where they areled tocompartment 26 to a coupling and distribution board 27, from which theseparate circuits lead throughout the barge to their respectiveelectrical devices elsewhere described. Means of attaching or detachingthe electric conduits of the two vessels is provided at (that or near 11where the towing cable is also uncoupled.

A'plurality of electric wires are contained in the'conduit abovedescribed leading 'from the control rooni 24 and switchboard 22 to thevarious electric or other devices on theV f barge elsewhere described,which operate and control 'the various features in connection withinyyinvention. As the system. of the fixed electric installation withinthe vessels does not differ Jfrom those now in general ;iise, ll do notshow in the drawings the leads ofV all the individual circuits. Theelectric current Ito operate all the electric devices which I *provideis preferably 'furnished from the storage'batteries'of the submarine.

The electrical control installed on the submarine enables the captain tocontrol the barge in tow in a similar manner as he controls thesubmarine. Thus in submerging the ballast tanks 30 ofv the barge arefilled by opening the sea Valve 34 which may be. of the well knownKingston type and oper- 'ated by the motors 33 from the control room 24of the submarine by means of\the switch control board 2Q. By operatingLne proper switch at 62 the motor is started which actuates the valveand fills the desired ballast tank. 4

To increase the buoyancy of the barge the electric pump 53 is startedafter the necessary connections have been made by means of switches 63on the control switchboard 22. This electric pump is enabled by means ofthe electrically controlled valve bo): to drainl at the will ofv thecaptain anyone of the ballast -or trimming compartments. Any of thecommon systems of. drainage may be used. This control of the buoyancy ofthe submergible Vbarge from the towing sub# marine is bothv novel andimportantf It, eri-i ables the submergence of the tow to be regulatedperfectly from the towingv submarine, without the tow affectingVappreciably the buoyancy of the submarine. Heretofore the submergenceof a tow has been regulated mechanically by means of floatspon thesurface. Former methodsare'o'nly applicable to support givenby avesseltowiug from the surface, or to towing in which the. buoyancy ofthe Vtowed vessel is constant. In my invention the buoyancy of the towedvessel is varied at will from the tow.

Necessarily heretofore the buoyancy of the towed vessel was constant-lypositive. In my method the control of the submergenee is accomplished byvarying the buoyancy of the tolw'at willl by electric means from the'towing vessel so that it may be made either positive or negative, andis thus regulated without the necessity of floats. method the resultattained is also independent of the relative size of the two vessels andI overcome the well known condition that the submarine while submerged,is especially sensitive to changes of buoyancy. This Aadvantage isessential to any practical means of towing large vessels under waterwhen either or both vessels are submerged! lThe stability and trim ofthe barge is gained by means similar to those now used on submarines.Indeed my invention does not. include any novel means of steering,submerging or trimming the tow except in so far as I adapt devicesalready known so that they may be used while controlled from the towingvessel. `Thus I provideon the barge the usual trimming tanks 31 which Iflood or empty from the submarine in a similar manner to the ballasttank. Il. desired, however, water may be pumped directly by the pump 53from one tank to the other, and controllable electrically from thesubmarine by switches 75 and 7G, Fig. 8 on panel board 22 in the controlroom 24.

I now describe the means of conveying oil fuel or other fluids from thebarge tothe submarine. The barge 1 is provided with a plurality ofstorage tanks 41 for fluids which are required for the activities of thesubmarine. These tanks are connected by means` of a plpe lme tocompartment 26- where coucontinue to the storage tankson the sub1Vmarine. At 57 is a1so' p1ovidec'l"a, cut ofi valve to control the flow@in similarfmanner as for 'the 'electr1econdu1'ts2' 1 At-l9is lprovideda` pump whie'hcan/be operated byl hand or otherwise and the luidspumpedfrom the tank on the barge to the'ta'nk'on thev I provide on thesubmergible barge a ver--y submarine.

tical steering rudder 38 and horizontal div# ingrudder 39.These'ruddersfare each pro" vided preferably with anelectric steeringengine 43 ot' well'known type; Icontrol the steering engine b velectricAcircuits leading between the barge and the submarine to the electriclever (31' on` switch board 22, Figs. 6,* 7 and S in control room 24,-bymeans as' elsewhere described.

I control a diving fin or rudder 15 near the bow of the barge in similarmanner as above. I

I provide anchorsv 8 preferablyone forward and one aft of a kind nowused on submarine, the anchor lines to be attached to a cap'stan 28 andmotor 29'which I control by means of an electric circuit between saidmotor connected to storage batteries and the switch controls 67 and 68in'control room 24.' These anchors can thus be lowered or weighed; alsowhen the submarine is slowing down, the stern anchor may be let out tovact as a drag to prevent over riding.

I provide an electric driving engine 32 on the barge to relieve thetowing strain from the submarine 'or to retard the barge in its progressin coming to a Stop or in slowing down. This engine 0r motor isConnected to and run from storage batteries on the submarine, the motorbeing also connected to the propeller shaft. I control the motor fromthe submarine by means of electric circuits carried from said motor tothe-switchboard 22 in control room 24 on the. submarine at' a point 68,Fig. 8.

On the barge in addition to other articles are carried mines 36 for minelaying in any desired manner. These are hung in compartments open to thesea. The mines are of any of the well known types, provided with theusual anchors, anchor lines and automatic setting devices.

The mine is released automatically by electrical control at 68, Fig. 8,from the submarine by means of a tripping device or hook 44. The minemay also lbe dropped by a Though the indicators are diver.

When submerged under usual conditions it is difficult to see the tow andexercise visual supervision over it.

. Inorderto properly advise the captain on board of the submarine as tothe state of buoyancy or the depth ofsubmersion of the barge I provideautomatic means of indicating the depth by electric connection betweenvthe barge and submarine. I provide on the barge a pressure gage 58 whichindicates electrically the depth of the barge on a dial 78 on thesubmarine and thus enables the captain to exercise all necessarycontrol.

In like manner the course of the barge is ,automatically communicated bymeans of a repeater compass 77 in the control room ofV the submarine andconnected to a Sperry gyroscopic compass 81 on the barge.

AThese indicators which show the course, submergence' and stability ofthe tow are the eyes for the under water towing, and since visual meansof supervision'can no longer be e ercised these indicators are animportan feature of my invention. themselves old, their use has beenheretofore limited to the vessel on which they .were4 installed. Byextending their use outside of the vessel I- overcome any blindness inythe control of under water towing and I provide a combination in underwater towing as complete as any surface' towing. A

i In like manner I indicate the stability ofV the barge by providingpendulums 80 electrically connected to the submarine, which 'indicateson a dial 79, lilig. 8. This enables the Acaptain of the .submarine toexercise the proper control.A

,I now describe the "method of attaching the tow to the towed vessel`'while the latter is submerged or both vessels are submerged.

The diver can then disconnect pipe line 56, electric conduits 5, etc.,eachone inturn,

.after first having turnedl of the valve 57 or switch 52 lto;prevent theescape of liuids or electgic current respectively, and the ends 'ofthese conduits 55 and 61 respectively capped and protected from waterintrusion.

YAsa meansto loc te the submerged tdw I provide'a marking uoy\13 andline, 1-.t

Fig. 8 attached to the towing cablejl: and

conduits 5 and 56. All these can now be cast overboard yand thesubmarineyproceed on .its` way. -The submergible barge nowA acts as aconcealed base offsuppliesand can be 'left indefinitely submerged untilit is def sired to `'obtain' supplies for thesubmarine or for thesubmarine to take the barge in ow again. The bargemay also be marked Yla line carried to the shoreor other means for finding it. To take thebarge in tow again when both barge and submarine are submerged, thereverse of the operation above described is gone through.

Should the barge be submerged and vthe Before disconnectin0r theelectric conduits' and pipe lines the submarine can replenish itssupplies from the submerged barge in the manner herein described, bymeans of my invention. Oil fuel or other liquids can be thus transferredthrough the pipe lines.

To transfer bulky stores from the barge to the submarine while both aresubmerged f. one of the divers compartments 20 on the submarine isbrought close .to one of the divers compartments 2O on the barge and thetwo vessels secured to each other.v A diver on the divers platform onthesubmarine, which we will assume is open to the sea, can by unlockingand opening the port 17 the compartment 20 on the barge .first havingbeen flooded) enter said compartment 20 on the barge and procure sucharticles as may be therein and transfer them to the submarine.. Shouldit be' so desired the diver may enter into the hull of the barge byclosing port 17 of barge, cause the water to be emitted from compartment20 and air let therein in the usual manner.

hese various electrical controls which have been described above andshown in the drawings may be any of the well knownv as my inventionincludes all suitable means of controlling the tow from the towingvessel. u

If 'desired one o1 more of the electric /means of control shown andexplained may be dispensed with.

Moreover my invention is not limited to towing astern but includes alsotowing a barge along side the sub-marine as shown inl Fig. 10. 2 is thesub-marine and l'represents the barge, which is towed alongside being4'rigidly secured together bythe Spars or spurshores 84. vIt is obviousthat when so secured the barge may" be controlled mechanically from thesub-marine without the necessitylof the electric connections which I,however, prefer. No 'specific means of securing the'barge are includedin my invention.

In Fig.-v 9 shown the sub-marins 2 l(,ow-

ing while submerged a number, of mines 36 A l by means of the separatetow lines 4. These mines areelongated shaped to4 facilitate towing andare otherwlseof the usual type and litted with the customaryaccessories. It will be noted that the tow lines are fastened to thesub-marineat 6 opposite the center of buoyancy. to facilitate "towing,By

the use of independent tow lines Yit is obvious that the mines may becast adriftv separately and easily. Y

Now that electriccontrol has so developed thatit is possible andpractical for .the captain of the ship or sub-marine to control theentire-operation of his ship by means of various electrical devices,such as pumps, steering engines, and so forth it becomes possible andpracticable by installing similar electrical devices on the tow toenable the cap-I tain to as easlly control by means of elec-y tricalconnection the tow as he controls his own vessel. I have invented nospecialelectrical devices but merely utilize the forms already devisedto enable the captain of the sub-marine to extend the control that henow exercises over his sub-marine to include also a barge or othervessel'when taken 1n tow.

Under present conditions the fuel consumption of the sub-marine is notlessened when submerged in proportion to the stores'. consumed. Whensubmerged the fuel 0011-' sumption must remain constant as ballaststores. By enabling the sub-marine to tow part of the necessary storesfthe necessity for taking ballast on the sub-marine 1s overcome up tothe time the tow is emptied and cast adrift.

I provide such .close union and such a perfect comblnation between thetow and the towing vessels as to successfully solve the problem of under water towing.

y inventlon is limited to means of controlling the buoyancy, stabilityvand courseof the tow by means of electrical connections ,f

between'the control room on the towing vessel and the electric pumps,trimming tanks, buoyancy chambers and the like, installed on the towingvessel. Previously the control was limited to certain rudders which didnot furnish sufficient control to make under water towing practicable.

My invention` includes aztype of boat adapted for a submerged base andcapable of being taken in tow under water.

My invention includes a type of vessel especlally adapted for towingunder water and for mooring under water. It is both adapte@ to be mooredsubmarine when submerged., It consists essentially of avessel preferablconsisting of -a hollow cigar shape shell7 especially adapted for towingand carrying stores under water. Toiadapt this type-of vessel fol` use`as a mobile submergible base means of mooring and unmooring under waterare in' eluded.

and picked up by a x Yelectricmeans of indicating on the submarine thesubmergence and course of the towed vessel whereby the relative positionof the tow is indicated on the submarine.

2. A submarine, a submergible barge towed thereby by a' cable, means onthe barge for .varying its trim, electrical' means for actuating theaforesaid means from the towing submarine,'and means for indicating onthe towin submarine the trim of the barge.

3. A su marine, a submergible barge and a tow line having at the end afour part bridle each part secured to equally spaced points onthecrosssection of the towed vessel removed from' the bow.

4. A submarine, a submergible barge,

the -submarine and submergible barge, consisting of a twoartbridle atthe towing end, each'part of the bridle end, attached to the mid-shipsection\of'the hull of the submarine, at a point of the hull oppositethe center of resistance.

6. A submarine, a submergible barge, in tow thereof, having a towingc'able, having its end attachedv to the mid-ship section of the hull, ofthe submarine opposite the center of resistance, and means of keepingthe towing cable clear of the propeller blades.

7. A submarine, a second submarine in tow thereof, by cable, and meansof indicating, electrically, on one submarine, the relative position ofthe other submarine, whereby, when both submarines are totallysubmerged, their relative positions may be known without resource tovisual means of locating their positions.

In testimony whereof I aliX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

V`WILLIAM WOODBURN Porres.

Witnesses: h

JESSE WILLIAMS, Y HERMAN M. TREvARr.

